Lever adjustment for wagon-brakes.



J. H. HUDDLE.

LEVER ADJUSTMENT FOR WAGON BRAKES.

APPLIOATION FILED APR.18,1908.

Patented Dec. 15, 1908.

- Umso STATES Pam@ fr omnes.

JOHN HERBERT HUDDLE, F EAST RDFORD, VIRGINIA.

DLE, a citizen of the United States,

Specification of Letters Patent. Application lod .April 18, 1908. SerialNo. 27,881.

To all whom 'it may concern: A

Beit knownthat I, JOHN HERBERT HUD- residing at East Radford, in thecounty of Montgomery and State of Virginia, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Lever Adjustments for Wagon-Brakes, of which' thefollowing is a specification.

My present invention relates to improvements 1n lever adjustments forwagon brakes, and it has for its ob'ect primarily to provide a devicewhich is a apted for attachment to the rotatable brake setting shaftwhereby the lever which is attached to this shaft and o erable by theusual rod and hand lever on t e wagon body, may be adjusted at differentang es with respect to the brake setting shaft in order that the levermay be main tained in an upright position or in sucha position as toinsure anefiicient leverage on the brake shoes, irrespective of whetherthe shoes 'are oonsiderab y worn from use or whether new shoes have been.tted, the adjustment serving to com nsate at all times for thevariations in t e thickness of the brake shoes.

Another object of theinvention is to provide an adjustable lever of thecharacter 'above setiforth which is capable of being readily applied tothe brake shafts on wagons of the various kinds now generally in use andalso to rovide for the convenient attachment a relatively long handle tosaid lever whereby the brake may be easily opertheusual front lever hasbeen removed ated after the body of the wagon urging om therunmnggear.-v

To these and other ends, the invention consists in certain improvements,and combinations and arrangements of parts, all as will be hereinaftermore fully described, the

. novel features being pointed out particularly in the claims at the endof the specification.

In the accompanying drawingz-Figure 1 is a perspective view o a portionof the running gear of' a wagon, the same being e uipped with a leveradjustment constructe in accordance with my present invention;

l iFlg. 2 represents a vertical section through Y'the adjustable levershowing an extension handle attached thereto; Fig. 3 is a Spgctive viewof the lever removed; and 4 1s a similar view of the member which 1s l'xed to the-brake shaft and colerates with e the lever to lock the samein d rent angular positions.

` obtained) without requiring a modification of the brake mechanismthereof. It will be understood, of course, that the invention is capableof use in connection with all wagon brakes which use a rotatable shaftor equivalent part for setting the brake shoes against the wheels, theaccompanying drawing showing a Ilparticular form of wagon as an exampleo y.

In the present instance, the brake shoesl and 2 are fixed to the ends ofa longitudinally movable brake beam 3, the latter being suspended bylinks from a cross-arm 4 attached to the rear portion of the runningear. The brake beam and the brake shoes t ereon are set against thewheels by'` means of a brake 'shaft 5, the latter being rotatableinlbearings 6 mounted on the running gear and is provided With a pair ofcranks 7 which are connected to the brake beam by means of the tensionrods 8, rotation ofthe shaft in one direction servin to' set the brakeshoes against the Whee s and a reverse rotation of said shaft serving torelieve the pressure of the shoes against the Wheels.

Patented nec. 1e,4 1901s.-

The brake shaft maybe operated when the body of the wagon 1s in positionupon the gear by means of a forward handle or lever 9 which may be ofthe usual construction, these levels bei usually` provided with'alocking rack 10 an are connected by means of a longitudinal rod 11' tothe rear lever-Which is attached to the brake shaft. v f

The rear lever 12, according to my present invention, is so attached tothe brake shaft that it may be adjusted 'and locked in dif- -ferentangular positions with respect thereto whereby this rear lever maystandrin an upright position or in a osition substantially perpendlcularto the ongitudinal rod 1l when the brake shoes engage the wheels for thereason that when this rear lever occupies such a osition, the maximumleverage is upon the brake shaft. In the present instance, the brakeshaft has one or both ,ends provided with 'a reduced threaded'stem 13,and beyond this threaded stem is formed. a square or other angularlyshaped portion 14 which tapers from the full diameter of. the brakeshaft down to the reduced threaded stem; in other words, this angularportion is ta ered axially of the shaft, the reduced en of the taperedportion forming a continuation of the reduced threaded stem portion ofthe shaft. A locking member 15 which in the present instance is intheform of a-sleeve is iitted over an end of the brake shaft, this memberor sleeve having an angularly tapered aperture 16 which snugly fits thecorrespondingly shaped angular portion 14 on the end of the shaft. v Theouter face of this locking member or sleeve is provided with a series ofradial ribs or `teeth 17, the sides `of these ribs or teeth beingpreferably inclined at divergent angles so as to a proximate the form ofratchet. teeth. The ever 12 is preferably formed with a round aperture18 which fits loosely over the reduced threaded j stem 13 on the brakeshaft, and the inner face of this lever is providedwith a set ofradially arranged ribs or teeth 19 which form a counterpart andcooperate with the locking face of the member 15. A nut 20 fits upon thethreaded stem 13 of the shaft and .engages the outer side of the lever12, tightening of this nut serving to firmly clamp the lever against themember 15 and the cooperating radial ribs or teeth formed respectivelyon the lever and the member 15 form a positive driving connectionbetween the lever and the brake shaft. The longitudinal brake operatingrod 11 may be attached at its rear end to the rear lever 12 in anysuitablelmanner, a bolt '21 -extending through the upper portion of thelever in the present instance and coperating with an eye formed at therear end of the longitudinal rod. It will be understood, however, thatan appropriate connection may be emp oyed etween the rod 11 and the rearbrake lever. In applying and using a brake rigging embodying a leveradjustment constructed in accordance with my present invention, the rearbrake lever 12,-1n order to secure the maximum leverage on the brakeshaft, is set in such an angular position with respect to this shaftthat it will occupy an upright or vertical osition, or a positionperpendicular to the ongitudinal rod 11 when the brake shoes 1 are inengagement with the wheels. This adjustment lever 12 on loosened orremoved so that the ribs or teeth on the lever and the coperating memberor sleeve15 may pass one another, the lever being brought into anupright or vertical vposition while the brake shoes are in engagementwith the wheels.v After the lever has been properly adjusted, the nut 20is may be made by rotating'the tightened, 'thereby clamping the ribs orany the shaft 5 while the nut 20 is teeth at theinner side of the lever'firmly into4 locking) engagement with the correspending ri s or teeth onthe member or sleeve 15, and as the latter is keyed to the brake shaftby means of the tapered angular portion on the shaft engaging acorrespondingly shaped socket or aperture in the sleeve, a positivedriving connection is formed between the lever and the shaft, andshifting of the lever around the shaft under the braking strain isprevented. As the shoes of the wagon become worn and consequentlycomparatively thin, it ma be neccessary from time to time to unloc r theadjustable lever and alter its angular position with respect to thebrake shaft, and in fitting new shoes to the wagon, a similar adjustmentmay be made to compensate for the increased thickness of the shoes byunlocking the lever and re-adjusting it in a different angular directionwith respect to the brake shaft.

Frequently, the body of the wagon is removed or omitted, in which casethe usual forward hand lever and the longitudinal brake rod cannot beused for o erating the brake. lIn those cases, it is pre erable to fit ahandle or extension u on the rear brake lever whereby this rear ever maybe operated from any part of the running gear, and in some cases thewagon is so loaded that the usual hand lever, while it may be inposition upon the running gear, is inaccessible for operation. In thosecases, the elongatedv handle attached to the rear brake lever may beconveniently reached for operation from the top of the load. In order toadapt the rear brake lever for the reception of such a handle, it isreferably formed with a pair of vertical or ongitudinal flanges 22 and23 which form a groove between them to receive the lower end of a handle24 which may be of suitable or appropriate length. This handlepreferably extends to the bottom of the lever and has an aperture throuh which the threaded vportion 13 of the bra e shaft extends, the nut 20in that case beingv clam ed against the lower end of the extensionandle. The bolt 21 may also extend through an aperture in the handle,and if desired, a sup lemental bolt 25 may extend through the sible toreadily apply a handle to the rear brake lever when necessary, and whenthe wagon body has been replaced or the usual forward'lever is accessile, this extension handle may be readily detached. l

A lever adjustment constructedin accordance with my present -inventionis simple in construction so that it may be cheaply made, and it ispreferably so constructed thatit may usual I old fixed lever andattachin the locking member and the adjustable ever thereto, and inpractice, it enables the maximum ever and handle, it being posbedirectly attached to the end of the brake shaft by merely removing theoms leverage. to be vobtained upon the Wagon brakes and also providesmeans for com- `ensating for the wear or the replacing of the brakeshoes.

I claim as my invention v1. A lever adjustment for Wagon brakescomprising a brake shaft for operating the brake shoes, a lever for oerating said shaft, and an interlocking clutc 'having coperating membersrelativel adjustable axially of said shaft for ositive y locking saidlever in different angu ar positions Awith respect to said shaft wherebythe leverage ofsaid lever may be maintained substantially constant withrespect to said shoes and the operating shaft.

2. A lever adjustment for wagon brakes comprising a brake shaft foroperating the shoes, a locking member non-rotatably fixed on the shaftandhaving a set of locking ribs or teeth formed on its outer face, anoperating lever for said shaft having a set of locking' ribs or teethformed on its inner face and adapted to have a positive lockingengagement with those on said memberwhen said lever occupies differentangular positions about the axis of said shaft, and a device movableaxially of the shaft for clamping said lever in locking engagement withsaid member whereby said lever may be angularly adjusted relatively tosaid shaft according to the `Wear of said shoes.

3.V A lever adjustment for Wag'on brakes comprising a shaft adapted tooperate the shoes and having a reduced threaded end and an angularportion tapering toward said end, a locking member having an angulartapered 4 socket to detachably fit said angular tapered portion of theshaft and povided on one face with a series of radial loc 'ng ribs, alever for.`

operating said shaft, the lever having an opening to rotatably lit saidthreaded end and provided on one face with a series of radia ribs tomatch and interlock with those on said locking member, and a nutcoperating with'said threaded end of the shaft to clamp the lever inlocking engagement with the locking member.

4. A brake mechanism for wagons comprising a shaft adapted to operatethe shoes, a lever for operating said shaft, interlocking devices forpositively connecting said shaft and lever including means operableaxially of said shaft for locking the lever in different angularrelations thereto, handle cooperating with said lev er, and a deviceadjustable axially of the shaft and cooperating with said handle andlever for securing the handle to said lever and for locking the lever infixed adjusted relation to the shaft. I

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses. I

JOHN HERBERT HUDDLE. Witnesses: TAYLOR MARTIN,

S. B. HARNEY.

an extension 5

